If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Good insight to the history of the 34 defense, on it's 30th birthday

The Steelers welcome another member of the 30 Club to their maturing defense. This time it is the defense itself; the "34" turns 30 this season in Pittsburgh.  Installed in 1982 by Chuck Noll and Woody Widenhofer, his defensive coordinator, this will be the 30th consecutive season in which the Steelers use the 3-4 as their base defense, far longer than any team in the NFL.

"That's amazing, how time flies by," said Widenhofer, now retired and living in Florida. "Pittsburgh has made a tremendous commitment to that defense. They believe in it, and they go out and draft people who can play."

Since Noll and Widenhofer installed that defense -- mainly because linemen like Joe Greene, LC Greenwood and Dwight White retired -- the Steelers have had three head coaches and eight defensive coordinators, but the 3-4 has remained. At one point, they were the only team in the NFL to run it, and, for many years, only a handful of teams used the 3-4. Now, it's regaining the popularity that helped prompt the Steelers to trash their classic 4-3 that became famous as the Steel Curtain in the 1970s.
Steelers defensive coaches have massaged it through the years, and one -- Tony Dungy -- took some of its "cover two" philosophy with him to Tampa Bay. Another, Dick LeBeau, helped revolutionize the way defense is played in the NFL by introducing the zone blitz to the Steelers as part of their 3-4 in the early 1990s when he served first as their secondary coach before becoming defensive coordinator.

"The first group to really start playing the 3-4 in the professional leagues, widespread, was the AFL," LeBeau said of the upstart league of the 1960s that merged with the NFL in 1970. "They called it the 'Oklahoma' then, which was a college defense. The pros were pretty near all 4-3, they played some 7-man front and stuff like that, but most of it was 4-3.

"The AFL teams came in with the 3-4, and it became pretty much in vogue for a while. And then Dallas with that 'Flex' 4-3, once they started winning with that Flex, everybody started going back to the 4-3, and there was hardly anybody playing the 3-4.

"So it's been cyclical, and now the 3-4 is making a comeback. Four or five years ago, you could name only three or four teams playing the 3-4."
Both defenses play a front seven, the 3-4 using three down linemen and four linebackers and the 4-3 vice versa. The 3-4 relies on linebackers to get most of the pressure on the quarterback, a job that goes mostly to the ends in the 4-3.
Hall of Fame linebacker Jack Ham played his final season, 1982, as an outside linebacker in the 3-4 and said it did not fit him.

"It's good it was the end of my career," Ham said. "That would not have been a style I would have been comfortable with. I was not 245 pounds. Trust me, I wouldn't have played 12 years coming off the edge."

The 3-4 defense, though, has been good to Steelers linebackers. Starting with their first big pass-rushing linebacker, Mike Merriweather, in 1984, Steelers linebackers have been selected to 29 Pro Bowls, most of those outside linebackers.
The linebackers have become the stars of the 3-4, piling up the sacks and the attention that goes with those. Joe Greene, Dwight White, Ernie Holmes and L.C. Greenwood made the cover of Time Magazine. The big names of the past 30 years have been Merriweather, Greg Lloyd, Kevin Greene, Joey Porter, Chad Brown, Jason Gildon, James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley, all outside linebackers. But even inside linebackers such as Levon Kirkland and James Farrior have made Pro Bowls in that defense.

They all can credit Lawrence Taylor, because his brilliance rushing the passer from his outside linebacker spot alerted teams to the possibilities using a 3-4 defense. Taylor burst into the league in 1981 and was named NFL Defensive Player of the Year in his first season.

"It was like a mass exodus from the 4-3 to the 3-4 defense, and I think it was because of Lawrence Taylor," said Tunch Ilkin, an offensive lineman when the Steelers switched to the 3-4 in 1982. "People were realizing the wave of the future was those outside pass rushers, those 'tweeners.' "

Widenhofer said that in the 1982 offseason he studied the way AFC Central Division rival Houston Oilers played the 3-4 defense.

"We thought we had more linebackers than linemen, and we studied the Houston Oilers' 3-4 quite a bit," Widenhofer said. "We liked what Houston was doing with the 3-4 front, and Bum Phillips was quite successful with that. We went with it, and I'd say it's been very good for them for a long time."

Carnell Lake broke in with the Steelers as a safety in 1989, watched the new coaches install and teach the zone blitz in the '90s and has returned to coach the secondary this season.

"It's evolved over the years," Lake said of the way the Steelers play the 3-4. "I think it had to because offenses were trying to figure out how to defeat it. Maybe it's evolved because players with certain abilities come in, and you want to use him in this role, as before we may have used another kind of player in that role. I think those things have changed."

Brentson Buckner, who spent the past training camp as a coaching intern with the Steelers, joined them as a defensive end in 1994. Things looked different in the 3-4 back then, though the technique remains the same.

"I think it changes with the different styles of people," Buckner said. "Myself, Ray Seals and Joel Steed, we were more big bodies, we weren't as tall. Now you throw Aaron Smith and Brett Keisel out there, guys who are 6-5, and it looks a lot different, but it's pretty much the same thing, it's been consistent."

LeBeau has coached the 3-4 and 4-3 and has run his zone blitz in each, but he says the 3-4 allows for more versatility and puts a premium on speed. The jobs of the three linemen are, in simple terms, to take on the blockers and not let them get out on the linebackers, who swoop in to make plays. Good linemen also will push offensive linemen back, crowding the pocket for the quarterback and not letting him step into his throws -- or chasing him out of the pocket.

The current trio of Smith, Casey Hampton and Keisel likely is the best in the 30-season history of the 3-4 defense for the Steelers. Each has made the Pro Bowl.
"Every year, you look at Aaron and Casey, they don't have a lot of tackles, but they're the best at what they do along with Brett," said backup nose tackle Chris Hoke, who joined the Steelers as a rookie in 2001. "They take up their blockers, make you play. They do a good job making the play that comes to their gap. That's why James Farrior, Lawrence Timmons, LaMarr Woodley and James Harrison make so many plays. They have three good guys in front of them who take up their blockers."

They have been doing it for 30 years in Pittsburgh, and they have had so much success with it they may go another 30.

That's a very interesting read, I even learned a few things in there. It's just amazing how it was installed decades ago; tweaked and perfected over the years but the original idea and concept still holds up today.

I tell, I was thinking about this last night alittle bit before bed, it's just amazing the talented players that have put on the black 'n gold over the years. Guys like Chuck Noll, Woody Widenhofer, Dom Capers, Jim Hasslet, Dick Lebeau, all played big parts in making the 34 as successful as it is. There is still none better though than Lebeau.

Amazing how Bouchette comes up with Woody Widenhofer, one of the many terrific coordinators or position coaches from the past. Then those comments from LeBeau who of course experienced these developments first hand. Some of the facts about the 3-4 D mentioned in the article and also found doing some searches that stood out for me were:

The Miami Dolphins played the 3-4 in the 70's and did so in their undefeated year.

The part about Widenhofer and Noll being impressed with the Houston Oilers and what they did with this D influencing the Steelers to adopt it in 82. That of course brought back some memories of those great games with them in the late 70's. Could there be a better story than that stuff with Bum Phillips etc. I was really glad to find this stuff out because up to now I was under the impression that the New York Giants were the 1st team to make a huge impact with this D. And even though they did use it in 81 with Parcells they did not win big with it until the mid-eighties. I was always concerned that we picked it up from them and was glad to find out it had been around a long time before. I copied some items from a couple sources that support what LeBeau said:

From Wiki:

Conversely, the Steelers have used the 34 as their base since 1982, the season after Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive tackle Joe Greene and end L. C. Greenwood retired. In fact, the Steelers were the only NFL team to use the 34 defense during the 2001 NFL season, but finished the season as the number one defense in the NFL.[3] It is believed that the Steelers success with the 34 defense is the primary reason why many NFL teams have started returning to the formation.[4]

The 34 defense was originally devised by Bud Wilkinson at the University of Oklahoma in the 1940s. Chuck Fairbanks learned the defense from Wilkinson and is credited with importing it to the NFL.[5] The 1972 Miami Dolphins were the first team to win a Super Bowl with the 34 defense, going undefeated and using number 53, Bob Mathison as a down lineman or rushing linebacker. When the Oakland Raiders defeated the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl XV, it marked the first Super Bowl in which both teams used the 34 as their base defense. Also notable, the Big Blue Wrecking Crew, the defensive unit for the 1986 New York Giants who won Super Bowl XXI, was a 34 defense and featured all-time great Lawrence Taylor as outside linebacker. By the mid-1990s, only a few teams used a 34 defense, most notably the Buffalo Bills and Pittsburgh Steelers.

A question for anyone. Since I seem to remember Noll would talk a lot about the Oklahoma D. And in the Wiki info it said the OK D was a 5-2. It also said they used the 3-4 D. Having no real idea what they are talking about but the question is simply---If you bring up the two outside LB's to the Line of Scrimmage is that the OK 5-2 D?? Also I do think I have seen the Steelers do this[not sure] Have they?
Maybe it was some other games or other teams.

A question for anyone. Since I seem to remember Noll would talk a lot about the Oklahoma D. And in the Wiki info it said the OK D was a 5-2. It also said they used the 3-4 D. Having no real idea what they are talking about but the question is simply---If you bring up the two outside LB's to the Line of Scrimmage is that the OK 5-2 D?? Also I do think I have seen the Steelers do this[not sure] Have they?
Maybe it was some other games or other teams.

It pretty much the same. I've heard that many colleges who run the 3-4 use 5-2 blitzing schemes anyways, especially as outside linebackers are defensive ends to begin with.

The Steelers, and other 3-4 teams will sometimes back both outside linebackers come up to the line of scrimmage and stand in a 3 point stance. So essentially there are 5 down linemen and 2 linebackers, but because the base defense is still a 3-4 the offense can't assume the down linebackers will blitz.